Brian Ashton at a loss after injury to Olly Barkley makes bad day worse

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As a magnet for bad news, the England squad is becoming a considerable force. That Phil Vickery, the captain, was handed the expected two-match ban yesterday was bad enough, though overshadowed by the hip flexor injury to Olly Barkley, England’s pivotal player, who was taken to hospital for a scan that will indicate today whether he is unavailable for the titanic fixture against South Africa on Friday.

With their two No 10s on the injury list, this England team have about them more than a whiff of Monty Python’s Black Knight. How many more limbs can they lose? And yet